English
Italiano
Toprak Razgatlioglu made himself heard during the first of the two Superbike-test days at Phillip Island. The Yamaha rider from Turkey ended day one on the adrenaline-filled Australian circuit that will be hosting the highly anticipated start of the 2023 season this weekend, stopping the clock at 1’30”674 in front of Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s and Alvaro Bautista’s Ducatis. As always, the test times must be taken with a grain of salt. No one works in a consistent manner. However, the 2021 World Champion is certainly racing to play a leading role, att least in his intentions, as he waits for the verdict on the track.
“We focused on the set-up, without doing a real race simulation. I’m happy because the sensations are better,” Razgatlioglu admitted. “Especially with regard to preserving the rear tire, and relevant grip, which dropped significantly after a few laps last year. We have to keep working because we have some new parts to test on the bike.”
Do you confirm that you made progress in acceleration with the addition of the new swingarm?
“I’m also comfortable here, in the corners of Phillip Island, historically not very favorable to Yamaha, although I could see today that Bautista and Ducati also exited the corners really fast. We’ll see how the R1 performs tomorrow as we mount the other updated parts. Even if we’re still missing something, I feel we’re back in the game like in 2021.”
Could outsiders like Locatelli and Rinaldi could end up being in the race?
“Both are really fast. I think Bautista and Rea will be able to battle it out along with me.”
How emotionally difficult will it be for you and your fellow countrymen to race after the tragedy that has befallen your country?
“With Kenan, we tried to make a contribution to the population by donating generators and other electrical equipment. We stayed there for a couple of days and slept in a car for just two or three hours, nothing more. I remember that, in 1999 in Sakarya, I witnessed an earthquake with my family, but the consequences are much worse this time. You can't understand the real extent of the damage through the media. You should go in person to those places. A terrible tragedy, but our country is more united than ever.”
